Encryption Can't Stop The Wiretapping Boom

As encryption technologies have outpaced the mathematical methods of breaking crypto schemes, law enforcement has feared for years that scrambled messages between evildoers (or law-breaking activists) would thwart their snooping. But it seems that either lawbreakers aren't using encryption, or those privacy tools simply don't work...the number of cases in which law enforcement encountered encryption as a barrier: one.

According to the courts, only one wiretapping case in the entire country encountered encryption last year, and in that single case, whatever privacy tools were used don't seemed to have posed much of a hurdle to eavedroppers. "In 2009, encryption was encountered during one state wiretap, but did not prevent officials from obtaining the plain text of the communications," reads the report. (more) (annual wiretap report)


The information security consultant's delimena: How to convince business executives to use encryption when even the criminals can't be bothered with it?

...and you thought volcanic ash was wild.

From the FutureWatch department...

In the 1990s, a researcher named Kris Pister dreamed up a wild future in which people would sprinkle the Earth with countless tiny sensors, no larger than grains of rice.

These "smart dust" particles, as he called them, would monitor everything, acting like electronic nerve endings for the planet. Fitted with computing power, sensing equipment, wireless radios and long battery life, the smart dust would make observations and relay mountains of real-time data about people, cities and the natural environment.

Now, a version of Pister's smart dust fantasy is starting to become reality... (not rice-sized yet, however)

The latest news comes from the computer and printing company Hewlett-Packard, which recently announced it's working on a project it calls the "Central Nervous System for the Earth." In coming years, the company plans to deploy a trillion sensors all over the planet. (more)

From our "never give a sucker an even break" files.

A businessman who supplied the Botswana Police Service (BPS) with spying equipment to eavesdrop on the cell phone and electronic mail conversations of all citizens without a search warrant, intends suing the government after the Police failed to pay him.

...it appeared that the transaction went sour when the equipment did not perform as the Police expected. The system was to detect all cell phone conversations without being detected by the service providers. It emerged that the system could only detect calls from only one of the three mobile operators and was unable to detect calls from the other two, thus failing the test. (more)

Moral: "You can't cheat an honest man."

Michelin Spy Re-tired

Marwan Arbache, a former Michelin executive, has been found guilty of trying to sell industrial secrets to the company’s main competitor Bridgestone. 

What particularly seems to have grieved Michelin, which already has a well-deserved reputation for stringent security surrounding its industrial secrets, is the fact that their former employee was trying to sell secrets relating to what the AFP news agency called “new tyre manufacturing techniques for heavy transport designed to improve durability.” (more)

How Do They Do It - Codebreaking

Seattle startup Pico Computing squeezes a cryptographic supercomputer into a breadbox...

...Not every customer has the know-how or the motivation to coax FPGAs into those cryptographical feats. But the three-letter agencies that buy Pico's code-breaking systems have both, and Pico offers them versions aimed at breaking everything from the Wireless Protected Access protocol used in Wi-Fi signals to the Filevault encryption found on Mac computers. (more)

Spyware Comes to the iPad

Retina-X Studios, LLC, announced today the immediate availability of Mobile Spy for the Apple iPad. ...users can silently view all email messages, web site visits and other information... even if histories are deleted. Mobile Spy runs in total stealth mode and no mentions of the program are shown inside the iPad. After the software is set up on the device, it silently records the contents of all emails sent or received. The software also records web addresses visited in Safari and any contact added to the iPad's contacts list. (more)

Spybusters Tip #732 - Copy Center Warning

Many office photocopiers - especially the larger and networked models - store the data they copy on an internal hard-drive memory. While this is helpful, it also poses a very serious espionage vulnerability. Old copy jobs remain on the disk and may be easily reprinted by other people who have access to the machine. Even when the job is deleted the data remains on the drive waiting to be over-written. When the lease is up or the machine is sold anyone could get your information.

Recommendations...
1. Photocopy confidential information without using the memory feature. If this is not possible...

2. Use the delete feature immediately after photocopying sensitive documents. If the risk is extreme...

3. Photocopy using a simpler machine; one without an internal memory.

"If you don't wipe, they will swipe." ~Kevin

Some photocopiers have easily removable hard drives which may be placed in a safe at the end of the day. Others have disk wipe options available. Keep these options in mind when purchasing a high-end photocopier.

Manufacturer’s security solutions:
• Canon - imageRUNNER Security Kit   
• Sharp - Data Security Kit
• Xerox - Image Overwrite Option
• Konica Minolta - Security Strengthen Mode
• Lanier - DataOverwrite Security System (DOSS)
• Savin - DataOverwrite Security System (DOSS)
• Ricoh - DataOverwriteSecurity System (DOSS)
• HP - Security Documents (1) (2)

Still don't believe?

Watch this...

Combine it with e-ink and never recycle newspapers again!

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have successfully coated paper with a solar cell, part of a suite of research projects aimed at energy breakthroughs. (more) (e-ink)

The Security Scrapbook Mobile Phone App

Kevin's Security Scrapbook has a mobile phone app. 

FREE download at getjar.com.

Compatible with: Blackberry, Nokia, Motorola, LG and dozens more. Search: "Spybusters"

Special thanks to the crew at SachManya, app-smiths.

Security Director Alert: Cell Phone Warning

The Bad News...

Two researchers say they have found a way to exploit weaknesses in the mobile telecom system to legally spy on people by figuring out the private cell phone number of anyone they want, tracking their whereabouts, and listening to their voice mail. — Independent security researcher Nick DePetrillo and Don Bailey, a security consultant with iSec Partners.

The Really Bad News...

"These attack scenarios are applicable to corporations and individual users alike," DePetrillo said. "Corporations specifically should start to take a look at their security policies for executives as this can impact a business very hard, with insider trading, tracking of executives, etc." (more)

The Really Really Bad News...

It doesn't look like the phone companies will (or can) fix this situation.

Spycam Story #576 - Weird Want Ad

Spycam Videographer Needed
Description I am looking for an experienced videographer to videotape using a spy cam video camera for Thursday, May 6. If interested, please provide link to some spy cam footage as well as what equipment you'll be using and your rates. (more)

How Your Competitors May Be Tracking You

ChangeDetection.com

KeywordSpy.com

Compete.com

Of course, you can use these tools, too. ~Kevin

Wise PR Ali

NYC - Disgraced publicity princess Ali Wise tip-tapped into a Manhattan courtroom in beige patent leather stilettos this morning, 'fessing up to a wacky voicemail snooping rampage in a deal that will keep her out of jail.

The beautiful former publicity director for Dolce & Gabbana took a felony plea to eavesdropping and computer trespassing. The feisty fashionista admitted she repeatedly hacked into the cell phone voicemails of two women she wanted to spy on last year -- including interior designer Nina Freudenberger.

Freudenberger and Wise have an ex-boyfriend in common -- Josh Deutsch, the CEO and founder of Downtown Records. (more)

New: Cybercrime Investigations without Tapping

Qatar - An official at the Cyber Crime Unit at the Interior Ministry denied that Qatar was tapping phones, any other telecommunication devices or blocking political websites attacking the country.
  

Captain Ali al-Kobeisi, an officer at Cyber Crime Unit said that the Interior Ministry did not establish the Anti-Cyber Crimes Unit for eavesdropping on people, but to protect them.

“We do not tap phones, Blackberry devices or discussion forum websites. We do not eavesdrop on anyone. This unit is not for tapping. (more)

SpyCam Story #575 - Not Feeling Lucky Anymore

India - The Swedish model Lucky Farmhouse, who used a spycam to expose her boyfriend Yaniv Benaim's links with Goa police, says she has enough to establish a clear nexus between the police and Goa's notorious drug mafia.

"I have not put out all the (spycam) recordings because I need to save those in case they will be coming after me. If they make any problem for me in the future, I will put it out," Lucky said in an email interview from Sweden on Monday.

The 33-year-old model, who was living-in with Atala, had shocked the Goa police after she posted her boyfriend's clippings on social networking website youtube.com. (more) (more)

Protect Your Social Notworking Privacy

The Paradox of Exposing Without Exposing...

• Facebook Safety: A Primer 
• Facebook: 5 Privacy Settings You Must Tweak Now
• New Threat: Undetectable Facebook Scams
• Your Facebook Profile May Be Sold by Russian Hacker
• Facebook Hopes to Discuss Privacy With Sen. Schumer

Facebook Books...
Facebook For Dummies 
The Truth About Facebook - Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know, and Much More - The Facts You Should Know
Facebook for Parents: Answers to the Top 25 Questions

SpyCam Story #574 - Bath Man

MI - A Pellston man facing multiple felony charges for allegedly using a hidden camera and computer in his home to obtain sexually explicit images... Jaimie Emanuel McDonald, 36, was arrested March 2 by the Emmet County Sheriff’s Department, after two individuals in his home discovered a hidden camera shooting through a two-way mirror in the bathroom they had been using.

An affidavit in district court states that McDonald’s video camera was attached to a nearby computer, which captured the images of three victims — one of whom is under the age of 18 — taking showers and using the toilet... McDonald had allegedly been capturing video for five months — September 2009 to February 2010.

Originally, McDonald faced seven felonies... however, three more charges were added against him in a separate case, relating to the same incident, when another victim came forward. (more)

New BlackBerry SpyWare

US software firm Retina-X Studios on Tuesday released a more vigilant version of its Mobile Spy program that captures every email and picture from BlackBerry smartphones...

The previous version of Mobile Spy software kept track of text messaging and telephone calls, providing online access to data by employers, parents or whoever else is paying for smartphone accounts.

New Mobile Spy 4.0 software also provides employers or parents with smartphone contacts, calendar events, memos and records of which mobile phone towers a device was within range range of, according to Retina-X...

Versions of Mobile Spy are available for iPhone devices as well as for smartphones running on Android, Symbian, or Windows Mobile software, according to the Retina-X website.

Monitoring by Mobile Spy software is designed to go unnoticed after the software is installed on smartphones, the company said. The monitoring service is available for an annual subscription of 100 dollars. (more)

When bugs, taps and spies just aren't enough...

China to Enforce New Encryption Rules
China is set to implement new rules that would require makers of certain electronic equipment to disclose key encryption information to be eligible for government procurement sales, creating a possible showdown with foreign companies that are unlikely to comply. 

Beginning Saturday, makers of six categories of technology products, including smart cards, firewall technology and Internet routers, will have to disclose encryption codes to authorities for certification to participate in bidding for government purchases. Such encryption information is closely guarded by companies, and industry officials say foreign companies that fall under the new rules are unlikely to comply, which could mean they are cut off from government contracts for those products...

 

Disclosing encryption information is "something companies cannot and will not do," said Jorg Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China at a briefing last week, because such codes are often kept secret by companies for both competitive and security reasons. 

Two companies that are likely to be affected by the rules are Gemalto NV, a maker of smart cards and other digital security products, and Cisco Systems Inc., the U.S. network-equipment giant. Cisco declined to comment on the new rules. Gemalto didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. (more)

Gordon Brown - Hot Miked

UK - Eight days before the U.K.'s hotly contested election, Prime Minister Gordon Brown committed the campaign's biggest gaffe on Wednesday when a live microphone caught him calling a voter "bigoted" after she confronted him over government policies including immigration... In an interview later with the British Broadcasting Corp., a visibly distressed Mr. Brown apologized to the voter over the incident... (more)

"But I didn't break a law." "No problem. We fix."

A month after the conviction of Australian citizen Stern Hu for taking kickbacks and stealing trade secrets, China has issued definitions of what constitutes commercial secrets...

They were published late on Monday. China's lack of clarification of state or commercial secrets, highlighted by the Rio employees' trials, has alarmed both Chinese and foreign investors. (more)

The Tale of the Trojan Kid

NY - A Granville man was charged with eavesdropping Saturday after his ex-girlfriend discovered a recording device hidden in a child's backpack, police said.

Donald A. Connolly, 34, of Route 22, was charged with felony eavesdropping after someone in the ex-girlfriend's home spotted a red light on a 4-year-old's backpack, Glens Falls Police Sgt. Keith Knoop said.

Knoop described the incident as follows:
Connolly and the ex-girlfriend have a 4-year-old child in common. Connolly had dropped the child off at the woman's Glens Falls home Saturday, and a short time later the light was spotted on the backpack. They found what appeared to be a recording device sewn into the backpack, and brought it to the Police Department. Police confirmed it was an audiorecorder. (more)

Electronic surveillance: Report of the National Commission for the Review of Federal and State Laws Relating to Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance (Paperback)

"The book provides a background briefing on surveillance technology as it existed in 1976 - although classified devices of the period are not covered. There is a comprehensive description of telephone tapping techniques, wireless transmitters and how their transmissions are concealed, non-audio eavesdropping and tape-recording technology. Coverage is thorough and includes numerous block diagrams but no circuits or schematics. There is a section on counter measures (TSCM) which mostly emphasises how difficult this task is and another on the falsification of recordings." reviewed by John A. Faulkner "signalsnatcher" (Sydney, NSW, Australia)

Smith & Jones - Back in Black

Forget you ever read this...

Men In Black director Barry Sonnenfeld has confirmed Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones's involvement in the new sequel. The filmmaker added that the movie will also be made in 3D and could be the big blockbuster release for May 2011's Memorial Day weekend. (more)

Bollygate I

India - ...a wiretap scandal is set to capture the attention of Parliament next week after media reports alleged that advanced tapping technology acquired by the government had been used to listen in on the conversations of opposition leaders as well as some Congress politicians.

The Indian version of the Watergate scandal surfaced in a report on Friday, claiming that sophisticated equipment meant to eavesdrop on and track terrorists and terror suspects had been used to spy on the conversations of the Congress's Digvijay Singh, NCP leader Sharad Pawar and CPM general secretary Prakash Karat. (more)